Fighting fake news: Why your local paper is important

Richard Howarth, Content Editor

The Horton General Hospital. It’s our hospital and it’s a general hospital.

Once again the people of Banburyshire have been fighting a threat to downgrade it and undermine the services our growing population needs on its doorsteps, not far away in Oxford.

The Keep the Horton General group has been at the heart of this campaign, which has united people from all walks of life and all political perspectives.

And once again the Banbury Guardian has been there every step of the way, reporting on KTHG’s efforts, the rallies and the meetings, while also, week in, week out, putting the difficult questions to health bosses.

It’s what we did when the previous threat reared its ugly head and it typifies what the Banbury Guardian has been doing ever since its launch way back in 1838 - reporting on the news in and around the area and standing up for our readers.

The world is very different from how it was 179 years ago but our commitment to Banbury and its surrounding area is unchanged.

We use the latest technology to share the news, good or bad, online as well as in print but in whatever format it’s a responsibility we take seriously.

While the rise of social media means it’s easy for gossip and speculation to thrive, here at the Banbury Guardian we believe our commitment to the highest industry standards in terms of training, the law and ethics makes us different.

Every week we aim to bring you the stories that matter, in a paper unrivalled in the area for the extent of its coverage.

Banbury is a great town and around it are other smaller but equally special towns - Chipping Norton, Shipston and Brackley - plus a remarkable number of villages with great community spirit.

We’re proud of how many of those places and how many stories we cover each week and that’s what we will continue to do.

It’s always good to hear what you think of our efforts - and we thank you for your support as we seek to keep up our good work in this wonderful part of the world.